UAA
Student Achievement and Faculty Excellence: Mr. Erick Romig, 2012 B.A. Languages, Emphasis Spanish
and AY 2012-13 Fulbright Teaching Assistant in Spain, will commence his pursuit of a Ph.D. in Medieval
Spanish Literature at the University of Virginia as a Jefferson Scholars Foundation Fellow. The Fellowship
includes full tuition expenses, $30,000 annual stipend with no required graduate teaching
responsibilities, $7,500 research stipend, full medical benefits, a private office, and publication in a
peer-reviewed journal. Mr. Romig’s UAA academic advisor, Fulbright scholarship and Post-Graduate
Studies mentor was Dr. Patricia Fagan, Associate Professor of Spanish.
Dr. Joshua Swift, assistant professor of psychology, is the co-author ofPremature termination in
psychotherapy: Strategies for engaging clients and improving outcomes, scheduled to be published by
the American Psychological Association this September.
Mike Hawfield, Kenai Peninsula College Kachemak Bay Campus associate professor of history and
political science has been appointed by Governor Parnell to the Alaska Historical Commission. The
commission advises the governor and legislature on Alaska’s history and prehistory matters, oversees
the historic preservation plan, and performs many other functions related to state historical sites.
UAA Partnerships with Alaska’s Schools. UAA’s Chugiak-Eagle River Campus and the Matanuska-Susitna
Borough School District partnered to fund the construction and opening of the Eagle Center Café which
will serve the needs of UAA and Alaska Middle College School students. Designed with students in mind,
the café, managed by Nana Management Services, features multiple electronic ports and free Wi-Fi.
Hours of operation are Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m.–6 p.m., and Friday, 9 a.m.–1 p.m.
UAA Accountability to Alaskans: ScholarWorks@UA is developing into a UAA resource including more
than 200 reports from ISER and the Justice Center, student graduate projects, and the open access
textbook, Monty’s Bridge to Tomorrow. The textbook is aimed at intermediate and advanced Japanese
language learners and dedicated to Monty Dickson, a UAA 2009 graduate who perished during Japan’s
earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. In his memory, UAA Professor Hiroko Harada and colleagues
from UAF, University of California San Diego, Sacramento State University, California State University
Long Beach, and Memphis University collaborated to produce the open access textbook with funding
from the Japan Foundation and Center for Global Partnership. The textbook has been viewed more than
400 times since it was added in June 2014. While most of the usage is from within the United States, the
textbook has been viewed from Japan, Australia, China, United Kingdom, Taiwan, and the Netherlands
and from numerous cities including Anchorage, Whittier, Memphis, Tokyo, Elk Grove, Irvine, New York,
Auburn, and Menlo Park.
The Consortium Library has added new databases in the sciences, linguistics, and languages and also
developed a new webpage and search services for SLED, the statewide library program. Upon closure of
the National Archives facility in Anchorage, the library received the Alaska Rural Rehabilitation
Corporation Matanuska Colonization Project collection, now housed in Archives and Special Collections.
The most recent issue of the Alaska Justice Statistical Analysis Center Fact Sheet presents data for 1982–
2012 on state and local law enforcement personnel in Alaska, including size of law enforcement
agencies by number of employed personnel, police-citizen ratio, ratio of sworn officers to civilian
employees and employment of women as sworn officers.